Blessing the Hogs – The Twelve Gauge Solution
Goodfellow Records – GFR028 – July 26th, 2005
By Jason Jordan
Fasten your seatbelts, folks, because
Blessing the Hogs gravitate toward the shaky, unstable side of things on
The Twelve Gauge Solution, which showcases several moments that’ll just floor ya. The piece, as a whole, doesn’t skimp on repetitiveness, though its side winding musicianship and staggering grooves all wound together with taut, atmospheric production will have you gasping for breath on many occasions.
Like most other releases, there are tidbits of information that you might already be aware of: Billy Anderson (studio extraordinaire) contributes guitars and vocals, Sean Ingram (ex-
Coalesce) laid down guest vocals on covers of
Quicksand’s “Fazer” and
The Melvins’s “Hogleg,” and
The Twelve Gauge Solution finds its home on the much-lauded Goodfellow Records label. With that said,
Blessing the Hogs have essentially crafted an hour’s worth of music, and the music’s strength directly concerns aesthetics above all. It’s difficult – and maybe pointless – to dwell upon anything else
but the tremendous grooves in numbers such as “40 Drops of Marrow,” “18 Rabbit,” among other songs prefaced with a numeral, except for “The Carrier.” Also noteworthy is the production for how slick it
isn’t, which lends both a gritty and grimy aura to
Blessing the Hogs’s latest outing. Mostly, though, all of the group’s pieces revolve around a solid-as-fuck riff that functions as a focal point, but then hands the baton off to other runners in the relay. Add in a plethora of supplemental materials via enhanced disc, and the package looks even better.
Perhaps what it boils down to is as follows: did I glean enjoyment from
The Twelve Gauge Solution? Without trying to over think the issue, I’d answer said question without hesitation, and “yes” would be my reply. If you aren’t on board with
Blessing the Hogs, then I propose that you remedy the situation immediately. So go do that now. Thanks. Bye.
8/10
Official Blessing the Hogs Website
Official Goodfellow Records Website
